As it happened back in the early seventies I read a Dutch magazine in which was featured a Mayor of a small Dutch town. In it he spoke about artists and how he wanted to encourage the arts to flourish in his municipality. Also in the same magazine was mentioned a Government initiative many years before to make this happen. It was very simple really. Artists would be paid a salary the same as most workers. It was argued, that the making of art was as valid as making bread or driving a train. Art was as necessary and equally esteemed as a bicycle. Indeed, art was the very bicycle of the spirit and soul. Was it Marcel Duchamp who pointed that out? It was decided that in exchange for their production of art, the maker or creator of this art would be paid a salary which would enable him to live comfortably and with dignity. It seemed so pragmatically and so utterly Dutch.

The article struck me as a lightening bolt from the sky. I became feverishly emboldened and I promptly wrote to this Mayor in which I greatly appreciated his aim in encouraging creative work in Holland. At the same time I made enquiries on how the system of creating art in exchange for a salary worked. While in Australia the combination running a business as well as doing art worked reasonably well, it wasn’t as ideal as it could be. The idea of a salaried artist germinated into fertile soil. I could not let go of the idea. At the same time I felt a rekindling of a kind and benevolent Holland. An artistic Dutch Nirvana! . I would again be regaining my home- country. It grew stronger by the day. Gone were the memories of daily rain and howling storms. I pushed aside those earlier memories visiting my friends who put on the TV within minutes of my arrival. Instead, a welcoming home to this lost Dutch prodigal son from Australia emerged like a fata morgana strangely affixed amongst an aurora in a Nordic sky. Of course, it also grew out of all proportions. I was running a head of steam.

I received a letter back from this Mayor advising me to contact him if and when we would arrive. I still had the Dutch nationality and right from the beginning our stay in Australia was decided would be temporary. It was envisaged we somehow would get a house (hut) made of solid pine in a Finnish forest and Helvi would teach and I would paint. Life would be simple and joyous. The Mayor’s article and the Dutch artist salary made us decide to do the ‘simple and joyous’ in Holland instead. Please consider that we were young and idealistic. It was the only way to be. With ageing might come experiences that wilts idealism, or at least blows autumn leaves, sometimes even icy blasts. Of course, to keep going in making art that doesn’t give an income is the slippery slope that bedevils many. The Dutch Government artist’s support whereby the art was bought for a monthly salary seemed so good, manna from heaven. It was so popular many overseas artists flocked to Holland. The art was used to decorate the walls, floors or gardens of public building. Jails, hospitals, parliament buildings, schools, libraries, child care, municipality town-halls, swimming pools, Law-Courts, Family-Divorce courts… you name it, all were flooded with art works.

When those public buildings were saturated with paintings, ceramics, wall hangings, sculptures. A law was passed named ‘the percentage in art acquisition’. It forced all large planned private buildings to spend a percentage of the total building costs on buying creative works to decorate the new building with. It was a boon that created an enormous output of art surpassing the (over) production of the world’s largest EU butter mountain a few years later. Of course, it went without saying that libraries started lending art works as well. People would take a painting home for a few weeks and swap for another one.

In 1973, we sold Gertrude’s cottage, packed as many suitcases we could take on the plane and after landing at Schiphol, rented a car. We slept one night in a hotel near the airport. Next day, after breakfast of ham and cheese rolls and coffee, we drove North to the small town and the Mayor. He was extremely helpful and indeed knew a farmer who had just moved into a new farm house who gave us the old farm-house to rent for the time being. He had it arranged for us. How glorious. We had packed air mattresses for the five of us. (That’s right, between Helvi on holiday in Finland in 1972, with our two daughters and her return to Balmain, we had a third baby, a glorious boy this time). The second night we slept on those air mattresses on the floor of the old farm, quite chuffed that all had turned out so reasonably well.

JACKSON, MI (WLNS) – There are five candidates for mayor and all have something different to offer the city, but by the end of the day Tuesday, two nominees will be left for the General Election in November.

To begin our coverage of the candidates for mayor we start with Councilwoman Laura Dweyer Schlecte who is the only candidate currently serving on city council.

She believes in order to serve as mayor you need to first have experience in city government.

“I understand the elements of economic development and I have the connections to bring people to the table to start doing some developing,” said Laura Dwyer Schlecte, candidate for mayor of Jackson.

Next is William Jors, who is an experienced banker and Jackson native.

Jors says he wants to make the city more business friendly and says he wants to restore the city to its former glory.

“City government needs to be more pro-business. There seems to be an adversarial role between city government and our employers and that needs to change,” said William Jors, candidate for mayor of Jackson.

Third is Martin Griffin, a former Jackson mayor and state representative. Griffin says his previous experience as mayor would help him serve in the position again.

His goal as mayor would be to secure the city’s future.

“We need to look long-term not just next year, not just five years, but 25 and 50 years from now,” said Martin Griffin, candidate for Mayor of Jackson.

Candidate John Wilson has worked in the Michigan Department of Corrections and is taking a neighborhood-centered approach.

Wilson says as mayor he will work to fix city streets and bring back leaf pick up services.

“The city has the money to take care of our streets to pick up our leaves, to take care of these empty lots, to pave our streets,” said John Wilson, candidate for mayor of Jackson.

The fifth candidate, Eugene Hurd Jr. was unavailable for comment. He is currently in the Jackson County Jail on a probation violation.

6 News will be following the results of the Primary Election all through the evening on Tuesday so stay right here for the latest.

]]>https://qcfa.wordpress.com/2015/07/31/the-last-chicken/
Fri, 31 Jul 2015 15:56:31 +0000jdwhttps://qcfa.wordpress.com/2015/07/31/the-last-chicken/Back on July 17th the Diary published a post explaining how the existing by-laws would not apply to Mr Whynot’s chickens. We elaborated on July 19th and again on July 20th when, being in a helpful mood, we published a sample by-law.

On July 28th the Advance published a story telling the world that the region was backing down on enforcing the unenforceable by-law.

DUHHHHH

In an attempt to save face the mayor (according to the Advance) said;

“What we found was that after the last council meeting two weeks ago, we found that the bylaw that we felt prohibited the keeping of chickens in an R-1 residential zone was unenforceable,” Clarke told The Advance this morning.

“The advice we had was that if we tried to enforce it, that we wouldn’t have much success through the courts.”

Actually they can enforce the by-law so long as the chickens are not pets. In other words, set up a household livestock operation selling eggs and chickens in the R-1 zone and expect to get shut down.

Then the Mayor said regarding a new by-law.

“We don’t want it so broad that it takes in cats and dogs but we do want it to take in chickens,”

Why not cats and dogs? What about gold-fish, silkworms etc. Why specifically chickens? And who is “we”? Has council consulted with the public?

Mr Clark went on to say;

“The bylaw itself talks about household livestock operations, and keeping half a dozen or four or five chickens was never envisaged as a livestock operation. And insofar as poultry is concerned, it visualizes keeping up to 25 chickens, 25 rabbits that kind of thing, it was felt by our lawyers we just wouldn’t be able to make the bylaw stick so that’s why we’re doing what we’re doing.”

According to the Advance article Clarke said the wording of the present bylaw was convoluted. It isn’t convoluted, it just doesn’t apply. Had the region paid attention to the Diary they could have chickened out of their threat two weeks ago.

Mr Clarke then said, “What it says to Mr. Whynot and his chickens is that the bylaw is unenforceable as it currently exists, and since its unenforceable there’s nothing we can do to enforce it. “

That is a convoluted gem of a redundancy although we are pleased the mayor is speaking to the chickens directly.

More simply put the by-law is unenforceable, the rest is obvious.

So the region needs to formally apologize to Mr Whynot for causing him grief and wasting his time or at least pay him for all the advertising the region got from his efforts.

]]>https://wchildblog.com/2015/07/31/calais-crisis-now-mayor-demands-britain-pay-her-town-35million-in-compensation/
Fri, 31 Jul 2015 12:30:53 +0000kchild2013https://wchildblog.com/2015/07/31/calais-crisis-now-mayor-demands-britain-pay-her-town-35million-in-compensation/https://saboteur365.wordpress.com/2015/07/31/lying-wino-cincinnati-mayor-stabs-ray-tensing-in-the-back-says-bellcurvious-murdered-for-lack-of-a-license-plate/
Fri, 31 Jul 2015 11:42:23 +0000Paladin Justicehttps://saboteur365.wordpress.com/2015/07/31/lying-wino-cincinnati-mayor-stabs-ray-tensing-in-the-back-says-bellcurvious-murdered-for-lack-of-a-license-plate/CINCINNATI MAYOR JOHN CRANLEY. WHITE IN NAME ONLY. THERE ARE NONE SO BLIND AS THOSE WHO WILL NOT SEE.

The University of Cincinnati police officer who killed a motorist during a traffic stop over a missing front license plate pleaded not guilty to murder and involuntary manslaughter charges on Thursday.

Ray Tensing, 25, was arraigned while wearing a striped prison uniform with his hands cuffed behind his back in a Cincinnati courtroom, where the audience erupted into applause when the judge set his bond at $1 million.

A highly disturbing video of the July 19 death of Samuel DuBose, a 43-year-old black man, was released to the public on Wednesday — amid a tense national conversation about police and race.

There’s really nothing disturbing about the video in the sense that the viewer is witnessing a cold blooded murder. The disturbing aspect is the Samuel Dubose thought he could escape arrest by putting a cop’s life in danger.

The “national conversation about police and race” is one the media is having with itself. White people are tired of Negros not having to obey the law and looking for a pass, which the politicians and press are willing to give them.

Their version of the story is: White cop loses temper and murders black because of lack of a front license plate.

The video footage paints a drastically different picture of what led to DuBose’s death than what Tensing initially reported. For many, this discrepancy underscores the importance of wider body camera use for police officers throughout the United States.

In an interview with Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley, Yahoo Global News Anchor Katie Couric noted, “Even on the videotape in the aftermath of the shooting, he makes claims that are proven to be false when you watch the tape.”

John Cranley is a WINO–White in Name Only. He must also be blind and not know he’s white. When you watch the tape, you see a huge amount of evidence that an uncooperative Nigga With Attitude tries to run away from being arrested and in the process recklessly endangered the life of Ray Tensing. Yet, Cranley calls Tensing and two other officers liars.

Cranley is the type of cheap tinhorn politician that makes Americans disgusted with politics and their country. He’s the liar.

]]>https://bataspinoy.wordpress.com/2015/07/31/can-the-mayor-be-compelled-by-writ-of-mandamus-to-perform-discretionary-function/
Fri, 31 Jul 2015 08:04:31 +0000Erineushttps://bataspinoy.wordpress.com/2015/07/31/can-the-mayor-be-compelled-by-writ-of-mandamus-to-perform-discretionary-function/The crux of the instant controversy is whether respondent mayor can be compelled by a writ of mandamus to grant petitioners application for a renewal of a business permit to operate an arrastre service at the Municipal Port of Hilongos in Leyte.

Ostensibly, it is petitioners contention that respondent mayors power to issue permits as contained in the aforesaid law is ministerial; hence, mandamus lies.

It bears to reiterate this Courts ruling on the nature of the writ of mandamus. The writ of mandamus serves to compel a respondent who fails to perform a legal duty or unlawfully excludes another from the enjoyment of an entitled right or office to do the act required to be done to protect the rights of the petitioner.[32] Otherwise stated, mandamus is issued to command the performance of a ministerial, but not a discretionary duty.

With that settled, we make a determination of the nature of the power of respondent mayor to grant petitioner a permit to operate an arrastre service. Central to the resolution of the case at bar is a reading of Section 444(b)(3)(iv) of the Local Government Code of 1991, which provides, thus:

(b) For efficient, effective and economical governance the purpose of which is the general welfare of the municipality and its inhabitants pursuant to Section 16 of this Code, the Municipal mayor shall:

x x x x

(3) Initiate and maximize the generation of resources and revenues, and apply the same to the implementation of development plans, program objectives and priorities as provided for under Section 18 of this Code, particularly those resources and revenues programmed for agro-industrial development and country-wide growth and progress, and relative thereto, shall:

x x x x

(iv) Issue licenses and permits and suspend or revoke the same for any violation of the conditions upon which said licenses or permits had been issued, pursuant to law or ordinance. (Italics supplied.)

As Section 444(b)(3)(iv) so states, the power of the municipal mayor to issue licenses is pursuant to Section 16 of the Local Government Code of 1991, which declares:

SEC. 16. General Welfare. – Every local government unit shall exercise the powers expressly granted, those necessarily implied therefrom, as well as powers necessary, appropriate, or incidental for its efficient and effective governance, and those which are essential to the promotion of the general welfare. Within their respective territorial jurisdictions, local government units shall ensure and support, among other things, the preservation and enrichment of culture, promote health and safety, enhance the right of the people to a balanced ecology, encourage and support the development of appropriate and self-reliant scientific and technological capabilities, improve public morals, enhance economic prosperity and social justice, promote full employment among their residents, maintain peace and order, and preserve the comfort and convenience of their inhabitants.

Section 16, known as the general welfare clause, encapsulates the delegated police power to local governments. Local government units exercise police power through their respective legislative bodies.[33] Evidently, the Local Government Code of 1991 is unequivocal that the municipal mayor has the power to issue licenses and permits and suspend or revoke the same for any violation of the conditions upon which said licenses or permits had been issued, pursuant to law or ordinance. On this matter, petitioner maintains that under the Local Government Code of 1991, a suspension or revocation of permits shall be premised on a finding of violation of the conditions upon which the permits were issued pursuant to a law or ordinance, which is independent of the Code itself. Petitioner asseverates further that there was no law or ordinance that conferred upon the respondent mayor the power to refuse the issuance of the permit despite compliance of petitioner with all documentary requirements and payment of all the fees.

First. On petitioners assertion that the power to issue license should be pursuant to law other than the Local Government Code of 1991, we so hold that the language of the law did not find the need to distinguish between other laws and that of the Local Government Code of 1991 itself. When the law does not distinguish, we must not distinguish.[34]Ubi lex non distinguit nec nos distinguere debemus. Hence, even the Local Government Code of 1991, specifically Section 16 thereof, can be utilized to determine the bounds of the exercise of the municipal mayor in issuing licenses and permits.

Second. While we agree with petitioner that there is no ordinance conferring upon the respondent mayor the power to refuse the issuance of the permit for the operation of an arrastre service, we are, as yet, unprepared to declare that the power of the municipal mayor as enunciated under Section 444(b)(3)(iv) is ministerial. What can be deduced from the aforesaid section is that the limits in the exercise of the power of a municipal mayor to issue licenses, and permits and suspend or revoke the same can be contained in a law or an ordinance. Otherwise stated, a law or an ordinance can provide the conditions upon which the power of the municipal mayor under Section 444(b)(3)(iv) can be exercised. Section 444(b)(3)(iv) of the Local Government Code of 1991 takes its cue from Section 16 thereof, which is largely an exercise of delegated police power. We said:

The general welfare clause is the delegation in statutory form of the police power of the State to LGUs. Through this, LGUs may prescribe regulations to protect the lives, health, and property of their constituents and maintain peace and order within their respective territorial jurisdictions. Accordingly, we have upheld enactments providing, for instance, the regulation of gambling, the occupation of rig drivers, the installation and operation of pinball machines, the maintenance and operation of cockpits, the exhumation and transfer of corpses from public burial grounds, and the operation of hotels, motels, and lodging houses as valid exercises by local legislatures of the police power under the general welfare clause.[35]

Section 444(b)(3)(iv) of the Local Government Code of 1991, whereby the power of the respondent mayor to issue license and permits is circumscribed, is a manifestation of the delegated police power of a municipal corporation.[36] Necessarily, the exercise thereof cannot be deemed ministerial. As to the question of whether the power is validly exercised, the matter is within the province of a writ of certiorari, but certainly, not of mandamus.

It may be true, as argued by petitioner, that Resolution No. 93-27, which was enacted by the Sangguniang Bayan of Hilongos, is not an ordinance but merely a resolution. A municipal ordinance is different from a resolution. An ordinance is a law, but a resolution is merely a declaration of the sentiment or opinion of a lawmaking body on a specific matter. An ordinance possesses a general and permanent character, but a resolution is temporary in nature. Additionally, the two are enacted differently – a third reading is necessary for an ordinance, but not for a resolution, unless decided otherwise by a majority of all the Sanggunian members.[37]

However, the fact that Resolution No. 93-27 is a mere resolution can do nil to support petitioners cause. As stated earlier, the proper action is certiorari to determine whether grave abuse of discretion had been committed on the part of respondent mayor in the refusal to grant petitioners application. Petitioners petition for mandamus is incompetent against respondent mayors discretionary power. Thus:

Discretion, when applied to public functionaries, means a power or right conferred upon them by law or acting officially, under certain circumstances, uncontrolled by the judgment or conscience of others. A purely ministerial act or duty in contradiction to a discretional act is one which an officer or tribunal performs in a given state of facts, in a prescribed manner, in obedience to the mandate of a legal authority, without regard to or the exercise of his own judgment upon the propriety or impropriety of the act done. If the law imposes a duty upon a public officer and gives him the right to decide how or when the duty shall be performed, such duty is discretionary and not ministerial. The duty is ministerial only when the discharge of the same requires neither the exercise of official discretion or judgment.[38]

“Why, dant’e know the old zouls keep all holidays, and eat pancakes Shrove Tuesday, bacon and beans Mace Monday, and rize to zee the zin dance Easter Day ?”

Palmer’s Devonshire Dialogue 1837

So records a curious lost Berkshire custom. The custom was associated with the election of a Mock Mayor at Newbury, called the Justice of Bartlemas despite being elected over a month before that date! The event as is usual with Mock Mayors (see Mock Mayor of Woodstock) the event was associated with a public house – the Bull and Dog. Brand’s Popular Antiquities (1853) informs us that:

“THE first Monday after St. Anne’s Day, July 26, a feast is held at Newbury, in Berkshire, the principal dishes being bacon and beans.”

Hone’s Everyday Book (1827) states that after this feast:

“In the course of the day, a procession takes place; a cabbage is stuck on a pole, and carried instead of a mace, accompanied by similar substitutes for other emblems of civic dignity, and there is of course plenty of rough music. A ‘justice’ is chosen at the same time, some other offices are filled up, and the day ends by all concerned getting comfortably ‘how come ye so.”

How come ye so equated to drunk! Sadly all this frivolity died out around the 1890s but if it was better known I am sure many would be keen to see a revival!

BIG SPRING (CBSDFW.COM) – The mayor of Big Spring also happens to own the town pharmacy, so the city leader was one of the first to learn his business had been burglarized.

Mayor Larry McLellan owns Leonard’s Pharmacy and he says thieves broke in and stole more than 14,000 pills.

Investigators say it appears the crooks were searching for certain drugs. Mayor McLellan says the pills of interest were, “…the morphine, the oxycodone, the hydrocodone, the Adderall, the amphetamines and things like that.”

Surveillance cameras inside recorded the thieves in action and after watching it McLellan said he believes the thieves are experienced. “We got pictures. They had hoods on and it looks like they had a mask over their mouth. They were almost like professionals it looked like.”

In all, the stolen narcotics have a value of about $140,000.

Police are looking at the surveillance tape for clues into the crime, but have no suspects. Jokingly McLellan said, “The Mayor gets robbed and the police don’t even catch them!”

Well I am well into the midst of my reading lists. I’ve got at least one big book per module and a bucket-load for my dissertation (even though I don’t technically start that until January). My head is starting to feel a little full! But it is all so interesting! Even my book about maps…never thought I would say that.

In other news, I am working full-time at Winchester City Council (seems boring but can be quite interesting) and I am now awaiting a visit from the Mayor for doing some fundraising for her! Now I’m nervous because I have no idea when she will turn up, she’s going to pop in whenever.

Well now I will be going back to my reading, until later when I have my Slimming World Group (lost 11.5lbs already, hoping to get to my 1 Stone award tonight!)

City budget director Paul Payne sat down with a handful of South City residents to explain Proposition 1. It plans for $180 million in upgrades many say are essential to the growth of the city. It would include everything from emergency vehicles to tearing down old buildings.

Sharon Acres is one voter who says no way to new taxes.

“I love Mayor Slay; he’s been .. one of the best mayors we’ve ever had,” Acres says. “But Francis has not met a tax he didn’t like.”

She says upgrades are needed, but this tax targets the middle class.

Shaw resident Jerry Connelly says the improvements are needed.

“I think the jury’s out. I think there’s some very valid needs here,” Connelly says. “Personally, I think these needs should have been incorporated into the overall budget.”

Plans are being drawn by Fazeley Town Council and St Paul’s Church to hold a service in the town square on Saturday 15th August to commemorate the 70th Anniversary of VJ day.

In June the Leader of Fazeley Town Council, Cllr Debbie James, proposed the Town Council host an event to remember the ending of World War Two, similar to the one that took place at Fazeley’s war memorial in 2014 to commemorate the centenary of the outbreak of World War One.

This week Fazeley’s current Mayor, Cllr Brian Hoult, confirmed talks are taking place with the local church to hold the event on the morning of Saturday 15th August.

Cllr Hoult said, “Like every city, town and village across the UK, Fazeley lost fathers, sons and daughters in the 2nd World War so, as VJ day marks the ending of that long war, it is right to hold a service to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the end of all hostilities.

“Although, the timetable for the event has not been finalised, I hope both current and past residents of Fazeley will put this date in their diary and join us at the Town’s war memorial to honour all who fought, died and survived to keep this country free from tyranny.”

Christopher Pincher, MP for Tamworth and Fazeley, has confirmed that he will be attending the service. Also in attendance will be Fazeley’s former County Councillor and current Police and Crime Commissioner for Staffordshire, Matthew Ellis. Both Mr Pincher and Mr Ellis will lay wreaths of remembrance during the service.

52.615283-1.699152

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Wed, 29 Jul 2015 19:45:00 +0000insaninohttps://hualinglivediaries.wordpress.com/2015/07/29/day-three-at-the-athletes-village-and-a-conversation-with-its-mayor-levan-kobiashvili-%e1%83%93%e1%83%a6%e1%83%94-%e1%83%9b%e1%83%94%e1%83%a1%e1%83%90%e1%83%9b%e1%83%94-%e1%83%9d%e1%83%9a%e1%83%98/https://speakupsumpter.wordpress.com/2015/07/29/enough-is-enough/
Wed, 29 Jul 2015 18:54:14 +0000speakupsumpterhttps://speakupsumpter.wordpress.com/2015/07/29/enough-is-enough/How long are the residents of sumpter going to be held hostage because a few unhappy people didn’t get their way?

Important issues like water, streets, safety and welfare of all the residents in town have been pushed aside because of a never ending lawsuit!

Previous volunteers are being accused of wrong doing as a council and some personally. And yet, decisions are being made and planned by our mayor and her husband, who is a council member without the rest of the council being aware.

Why is this kind of illegal behavior being allowed while the previous council is being sued for things they did not do intentionally?

Seems this is what the lawsuit is all about in the first place and yet seems to be “okay” for the present mayor and council member.

Seems that neither the ones who filed this lawsuit, nor the current mayor, fully understands what LAWFUL really means.

My mother used to say, “what is good for the goose is good for the gander.”

Doris Luker

Sumpter, Oregon

]]>https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/west-island-gazette/former-pierrefonds-mayor-andre-theoret-dies-at-88/
Wed, 29 Jul 2015 18:18:34 +0000Anne Sutherland, Montreal Gazettehttps://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/west-island-gazette/former-pierrefonds-mayor-andre-theoret-dies-at-88/During André Théorêt term as mayor of Pierrefonds from 1966-1969, there were many firsts.

Théorêt oversaw the opening of the first library which was at that time situated at the corner of St-Jean and Pierrefonds Blvds. He took part in the opening of Pierrefonds Comprehensive High School, the new city got its first permanent firefighters and Sources and St-Jean were linked along Pierrefonds Blvd.

Théorêt passed away at Laval’s Cité de la Santé hospital on July 25 at age 88.

“On behalf of the Pierrefonds-Roxboro borough council, I express with all my heart our deepest sympathy to the family and friends of André Théorêt, a mayor who had marked the history of the former Ville de Pierrefonds,” current mayor Jim Beis said in a statement.

Théorêt was also a former mayor of Ste-Geneviève.

A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday Aug. 1 at Église Ste-Geneviève, 16037 Gouin Blvd. W.

For the first time since 1989, the U.S. Men’s National Team will play a World Cup Qualifier in St. Louis — making it the country’s first FIFA World Cup Qualifier at Busch Stadium.

The St. Louis Cardinals made the historic announcement with a pep rally and press conference at Ballpark Village on Monday, where the American Outlaws and casual fans alike chanted ‘U-S-A, U-S-A, U-S-A!’ to the news.

Cardinals broadcaster Dan McLaughlin emceed the event, with club President Bill DeWitt III and Vice President of Event Services and Merchandising Vicki Bryant representing the organization. Also in attendance, Mayor Francis Slay and the U.S. Soccer Federation’s Dan Flynn.

The country has soccer fever and the fans showed that, when they ignited Ballpark Village as St. Louis natives and U.S. National Team members Tim Ream and Lori Chalupny were introduced to the Soccer Capital.

“I get the question all the time, when is St. Louis going to get a team? When is the National Team going to make a stop there? I tell them all the time it’s a great soccer city. The support will be second to none,” Ream said. “I know what the city can bring in terms of support and now we get a chance to see that first hand.”

The U.S. will take on the winner of the third round playoff between St. Vincent & The Grenadines vs. Aruba on Friday, November, 13. Tickets will go on sale August 5, at 10 a.m. Visit Cardinals.com/soccer to learn more. To read the full press release, click here.

~Teryn Schaefer
Teryn Schaefer is a reporter and producer for the St. Louis Cardinals and #CardsInsider

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Nineteen-year-old rapper Chief Keef announced via social media that he just might retire the mic and pick things up in politics. Keef told Twitter he plans to run for mayor of Chi-Town, despite his fair share of run-ins with the Chicago Police Department in the past.

It was just last weekend that Keef’s highly anticipated hologram charity performance was unjustly shut down by Chicago police. Ironically, the rapper tweeted out the non-emergency services number of Mayor Rahm Emanuel, encouraging followers to call the offices so that cops “stay the fuck off” of people’s musical endeavors.

But as we now know, that wasn’t the end of Keef’s stand against the Chicago police department. The young rapper thought “what the hell, why not run for mayor too?” He very enthusiastically announced his decision via Twitter, stating, “Yall gonna love me in the Office.”

I'm running for mayor of Chicago….. Vote for me!!!! It'll be the best thing done yet!!!!! Yall gonna love me in the Office…..

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Tue, 28 Jul 2015 14:07:12 +0000Thibault B.https://alleyesonpolitics.wordpress.com/2015/07/28/in-london-a-democracy-reborn/In 2016, residents of London will vote for their new mayor. Such an event is always important in the life of a city, especially when it is a capital, then reaching a national scope. Yet, a decision by the Labour Party has made this forthcoming election even more special.

From my experience, campaigning at local, national and European levels for 8 years, I have learnt that there cannot be a good campaign without a good candidate. I also came to realise that a good candidate does not always make a good campaign; one that is disorganised or lacks a relevant strategy; leads straight to a cruel defeat. The moment of campaigning can give birth to a genuine, top-tier politician; it trains and its shapes, it can also grant access to an upper dimension, that of great men and women, who influence the course of lives, of nations and of History. It is this paroxysmal moment of naked and vibrant truth, offering the possibility to create a very special link with the People that will make them great. It gives to a candidate an incarnation and a new dimension. Still, because politics are indeed about ruling the country on behalf of the People, some might see the time of campaigning as secondary, reducing it to a petty moment of self-promotion and entertainment of the masses before going back to the real and serious business. However, it is downright the opposite; this is the time of the legitimacy, the moment when the people decide to trust and to delegate the sovereignty as the expression of the national will to a representative, or not. This moment is, each time, a validation and a re-foundation of our democracy.

In that regard, the next mayoral election in London will be special and a national premiere. For the first time in its history, the Labour Party has decided to open the selection of its candidate for the 2016 Mayor of London Election to the voters. All of them, or at least those who signed up and paid the £3 fee, not only the Party members. Labour was inspired by the successful primary elections organised by its Italian and French counterparts (Partito Democratico and Parti Socialiste). In Italy, such elections are institutionalized in the left-wing political landscape whereas, the PS proposed to the French voters to choose its candidate for the 2012 Presidential election, bringing a staggering 4 million people to the polling stations. This contributed to create a genuine momentum that carried the candidate François Hollande during the full length of his campaign and ultimately led him to victory. To conquer the seat of Mayor of London, which clearly seems possible according to polls and to the results of the last General election, the Labour Party will try and recreate this large movement of public support. In a few weeks, voters in London will be entitled to select one of the 6 candidates. Amongst all of them, one has decided to make the most of this unprecedented experience and to bring it to the maximal extent of its political dimension, candidate David Lammy MP.

Already in the very early steps of the selection process, David Lammy has made clear his intention to run to be the party candidate for the Mayoral election. Is it about personal ambition and a taste for power: it could be; who is not ambitious in politics? Still, his work as the MP for Tottenham is widely recognised and so is his dedication to his constituency. Still, the campaign that David Lammy has undertaken is different from anything observed so far: different in its shape, in its conception, in its strategy and in the way the candidate has decided to make it as an opportunity to engage in a dialogue with the citizens, and to make this campaign a time of empowerment. Not the empowerment of the only successful and ambitious candidate, but the empowerment of the voters.

Lammy seems to have designed his campaign as a moment and a movement that the People of London could make theirs. He has decided to get down in the streets, climbing on a soapbox with nothing but a microphone and his ideas and he has called it 20 (boroughs) in 20 (days). He has decided to go beyond just the Labour Supporters, to reach out and to talk to the people of London, all of them, and not hide behind emotional and striking marketed “promotiolitical” movies. He has decided to go and talk to them directly, where they live every day, in their environment, not only speaking in well-organised and framed hustles. He has decided to liaise with the voters so they feel involved, because they are, whether they like or not. He has decided to empower them, so the voices he gets really make him a legitimate and chosen representative.

David Lammy has started his campaign quite lonely, with restricted means and a small team. Little by little however, working hard, Lammy has managed to make his way, without the help of the war-machine and the considerable resources of other candidates or the Party. Observers may think that he has no chance, overshadowed by the favourite candidates. Yet, this move, that David Lammy has pushed the political world in London to do, has changed things and this will leave a mark. Furthermore, in political history, many instances showed that nothing is settled until it is settled right, that the people hate to be dictated a choice, even by the opinion polls. It also showed that losing an election can still pave the way to eventual victories, bigger and better ones. In France in 2011, PS contestant Arnaud Montebourg has done the same: his popularity exploded and he made the third highest score, with an unexpected 17%, eventually giving to him the keys of the Ministry of the Economy.

With this campaign, no matter what score he makes, David Lammy will probably remain as the one who met the challenge of genuinely renewing democracy in its shape, in its frame, in its expression and in its conditions. He took the opportunity of this outstanding primary election, and actually brought it to the streets, talking directly to the people. In the overcrowded landscape of local and national politics, there are only a few people whose speech sounds genuine. His does, in the shape and in the deeds. In a time where the democracy and the political system are deeply challenged by what seems to be a general drop of interest and a public drop of credibility, David Lammy has decided to rebind the link with the people and to stretch his hands to the voters, may they vote for him or not or not at all. This may seem idealistic, but this is also what gives weight to the public parole, and this is what David Lammy is currently transforming, from its very roots. Ultimately, whether he wins or not does not matter that much, as David Lammy’s candidateship and campaign will leave a boldly printed park and in that regard, in the renovation process of British local and national democracy, his achievement is already capital.